Facsimile page printer



March 2, 1943.

c. w. BURCKY a, a

FACSIMILE PAGE PRINTER Filed Sept. 20, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. CHARLES BURCKY .4 y ATTORNEY.

hl 1943 c. w. BURCKY ,312,317

FAGSIMILE PAGE PRINTER ,Filed Sept. 20, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FWN ii\ [142 Patented Mar. 2, 1943 FACSIMILE PAGE PRINTER Charles W. Burch, Park Ridge, 111., assignor to Teletype Corporation, Chicago, lll., a corporation of Delaware Application September 20, 1941, Serial No. 411,887

v13 Claims.

This invention relates to facsimile printing telegraph receiving apparatus and more partlcularly to a page facsimile printing apparatus.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a simple and compact receiving apparatus for automatically printing received messages.

In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, there is provided a scanning tape which is driven at a relatively high rate of speed across the face of a continuously traveling web of paper. This tape is provided with ridges which are embossed on its surface and project outwardly toward the paper. Means is provided in the apparatus for applying ink to theridges so that when the paper is forced against the ridges the ink will be transferred from the ridges to the paper, and a stiffening plate is provided for preventing movement of the scanning tape by the paper so that the ink will be transferred to the paper upon the pinching of the paper between the ridge on the scanning tape and one of three ribs or styli formed on a second tape driven at the rear of the paper in such manner that a rib is always in association with the paper. The scanning tape having the ridges or platens on it travels at, a rate of speed determined by the speed of transmission of signals at a remote transmitting station. Mounted behind the tape. which has the printing styli on it, is a bar which extends across the web of paper and is mounted for actuation by the armatures of a pair of speaker motorswhich receive the signals from the transmitting station through suitable radio receiving apparatus and which, upon energization, will move the printing tape, on which the styli or ribs are formed, against the sheet of paper being fed across it, so that the paper will be forced into engagement with the ribbed ridges on the scanning tape moving across the face of the web.

It is noted that the scanning belt, the printing stylus belt, and the paper web are all moving continuously and unidirectionally with respect to each other at predetermined relative speeds. All of the moving parts of the apparatus with the exception, of course, of the speaker motors are driven from a single source of power and are geared together so that the ribs or styli formed on the metallic tape, actuated by the speaker motor, will travel across the web of paper at a speed such that the proper formation of characters in facsimile as described in the patent to Kleinschmidt et al. No. 2,046,328 granted July 7, 1936, will be effected and two characters, one above the other, will be formed.

The two lines of identical printing thus formed 1 will be printed straight across the continuously moving web of paper at right angles to the long edge thereof, due to the fact that the traveling tapes and the speaker motor actuated bar or hammer are mounted at an angle to compensate for the angle at which the paper is fed relative to the movement of the tape. 7

A better understanding of the apparatus will be had by reference to the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of a facsimile printer embodying the features of the present invention, parts being broken away to illustrate more clearly the construction of the apparatus. and many nonessential elements which may be of any suitable form being eliminated from the structure shown so that the details of the invention itself may be more clearly illustrated;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary plan view of the apparatus as shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view, through the apparatus taken along the line 8-3 of Fig.

ence characters designate the 1 in the direction of the arrows, showing the construction of the printing hammer actuated mechanism; and

Fig. 4 is .a side elevational view of the right side of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings wherein like refersame parts throuout the several views, the apparatus is mounted in a framework comprised of a base member ll, side plate ii, and side plate IL The side plates are interconnected by a diagonal plate II which supports a pair of speaker motors II and a diagonally disposed platen member i5. Power for driving the various parts of the apparatus is transmitted through a motor shaft it which may be driven in any suitable manner. The motor shaft It extends into a gear reducer box H from which extend three driven shafts i8, ll, and 20 (Figs. 1 and 4) which are driven at speeds proportional one to another, but, no two of the shafts are driven at the same speed, suitable gearing in the gear reducer box I! being provided for driving the shafts i8, i8, and 20 at proper relative speeds. Adjacent to their upper ends the shafts it and ii are iournaled in a bearing bracket 2i, mounted upon the side plate i2. The upper portion of the bracket 2| also serves as a bearing for the shaft 20, and the shaft 20 carries at its upper end a gear 22 in mesh with a gear 23 on the right end (Fig. 1) of a shaft 24. The

shaft 24 carries a pair of paper feeding rollers 25 and 26 (Fig. 2) which have a pair of gripping rollers 21 and 2'8 associated with them for engaging a web 29 of paper and forcing it into driving contact with the respective rollers 25 and 2d. Formed on the side plates i2 and ii are a pair of projections 3d and Bi which are bent inwardly toward each other and have attached to them contractile springs SZ-"and 33, the other ends of which are fixed to substantially horizontally extending arms of bell crank members 35 and 35, respectively. The bell cranks 34 and 85 are pivotally supported on posts 38 and 37 extending inwardly from the side plates 52 and M, respectively, and the bell cranks support on their vertically extending arms the rollers 21 and 28, respectively, for pinching the web 29 of paper between the roll era 21 and 28, and the rollers 25 and 2'6, the bell crank members 84 and 35 being urged by the springs 32 and 33 to force the rollers 21 and it into engagement with the web of paper. Through the mechanism Just described the web 28 of paper will be moved past the platen member id at a constant speed proportional ,to the speed of the driven shaft of the apparatus.

An endless tape 45 which is provided with a series of ridges or ribbed projections 48, passes around a pair of rollers 4'? and 48,;the roller it being freely rotatable about a stud 48 mounted in. a bracket 50 secured to the side plate i i, and the roller 41 constituting a drivin or wheel fixed to the upper end of the I aft E9. The side plates H and i2 arecut out to receive the inner course of the tape 45, and the plate It is provided with a forwardly extending projection E! for supporting an inking mechanism for transferring ink from an ink roller 52 to the projections or ridges 48 on the tape 45 through the medium oi a transfer roller 53. The ink rollers 52 and transfer roller 63 are supported for rotation in a U-shaped member 54 pivoted on a stud 55 extending upwardly from the projection i, and the U-shaped member 54 is urged to rock in a coun= terclockwise direction (Fig. 2) by a contractile spring 58. By means of the just described mechanism, ink will be transferredirom the ink roller 52 to the projections 46 through the instrumentality of the ink transfer roller 33, the spring urging the ink transferroiler 53 into engagement with the ribs or projections as on the tape 35. The tape 45' being driven past the face of the web 29 of paper, may deposit ink on the paper if the paper is iorcedagainst the ribs or ridges Mi.

Positioned directly behind the web 29 of paper is one course of an endless belt or tape 69 having three printing ridges 6! formed on it for cooperation with the ribs 48 on the tape db to pinch the web 29 01' paper between the ribs lit and ridges 8i, thereby to transfer ink from the ribs or ridges tit to the paper in efiecting a printing operation. There are, as pointed out hereinbefore, three ridges ti on the tape ill so that during the travel of the tape 6b there is always one of the ridges ii in association with the paper. The tape St is driven past the web of paper 29 by the shaft it? on the upper end of which there is a driving drum 32 about which the tape passes. lvlounted for rotation in the bracket lid is an idler drum or roller as which serves to sup port the left end (his. 2) of the tape or belt In this manner, the tape or belt at is driven through a path where one course of the tape or belt 69 is directly behind the web of pap-er asiasiv 29, and in alignment with the inner course of the tape d5.

Positioned directly behind the course of the belt 60, which is in close proximity to the web of paper 29, is a printing member K56 which extends across substantially the entire width of the web of paper 29. It should be noted that the two tapes or endless belts and dd and the printing member are disposed at a slight angle to the horizontal as viewed in Fig. 1, this angle being such that one of the ridges ti in starting from the left-hand side of the sheet or web of paper (Fig. 1) and traveling across the web, will be in association with an area of the web of paper approximately at right angles to the side edges of the web of paper 25 all during its travel. across the web as the paper 29 is fed upwardly past the tape 6b. In other words, the angle at which the tapes i5 and it and the printing members 66 are disposed with respect to the sheet or web of paper 29 passing through the apparatus is such that the ridge 5i which is cooperating with the tape 35 and its ridges d5 will in efiect travel straight across the web of paper at right angles to the edges thereof to eiiect printing in a straight horizontal line across the web of paper due to the relative movement oi the web of paper 29 and the movement of the rib or ridge iii. In this manner, the next succeeding rib or ridge @l to be asso= ciated with the web of paper will start at the hit edge oi the paper one line space below the posi tion at which the previous ridge 2i started, and because of this, line spacing is effected with a constantly moving web of paper and a constantly traveling ridged tape. Of course, in order to insure that the cooperating ridges 6i and 56 will print every character, it may be advisable to have the ridges iii so positioned on the tape dd that when the forward ridge Si is printing the last character at the right side of the web of paper, as viewed in Fig. l, the next succeeding ridge {ill will print the same character at the leit edge of paper thereby to insure that no characters will be lost in receiving a message.

The printing member 56 is substantially T-shaped in cross section and is fixed by means of screws to the upper end of an armature member at which is provided with a bent over portion for receiving the screw The annattne is hinged to an armature support Gil by a flexible metallic reed 38, and it may be vibrated to actuate the printing member 86 by a coiled wound around a core member ill, forming a part of the speaker motors id in which there is provided the usual permanent magnet l i and suitable armature stops, not shown, the assembly being suitably mounted on the diagonal plate 5 3. The speaker motor assemblies it may be of substantially the same construction as that disclosed in the 00- pending application Serial No. 388,430 filed April 14, 1941, by C. W. Burcky and E. A. Gublsch.

1 At the bottom or the apparatus, as most clearly shown in Fig. 3, there is provided a roll of paper or belts 35 and 3d and the paper web 29 continuously. it will be understood the tapes plying power to drive the tape and paper continuously at proportional speeds.

10. In a facsimile printing'apparatus, the combination of a pair of continuously moving rigid tapes, means for driving said tapes on opposite sides of a record web, means responsive to received signals for actuating one of said tapes to pinch the web between it and the other web for eflecting printing, and means for supporting said tapes for movement at a slight angle to the direction of character spacing to compensate for the travel of the web and to continuously eil'ect line spacing.

11. In a facsimile printing telegraph apparatus, the combination of a pair of tapes having cooperating ridges on confronting faces thereof,"

means for imparting relative continuous movement between said tapes, means for moving a record receiving web between said faces, and signal responsive means for vibrating the ridges of one of said tapes to produce a record.

12. In a facsimile printing telegraph apparatus, the combination of a pair of tapes haying 5::

cooperating ridges on confronting (aces thereof,

means for imparting relative continuousn'iovement between said tapes tor scanning, and signal responsive means for actuating one of said tapes to pinch a web of record receiving material between its ridges and the ridges of the other tape for effecting printing during relative movement of said tapes.

13. In a facsimile printing telegraph apparatus, the combination of a tape having a plurality of transverse ridges, a cooperating tape having a plurality of parallel oblique ridges confronting said transverse ridges, means ior imparting con- 15 tinuous motion in the same direction to both said 20 of record receiving material disposed therebetween. 4

CHARLES w. BURCKY. 

